The B.C. Court of Appeal says the city failed to get the approval of the province’s environment minister.

Vancouver is reviewing the impact of a court ruling that quashes the City of Victoria’s ban on single-use plastic bags as it makes plans for a similar bylaw.

But a spokesperson for the city noted that Vancouver is not subject to the same set of rules that govern Victoria’s bag ban.

“At this time, staff are studying the decision to determine how it affects Vancouver,” city communication spokesperson Kai-lani Rutland said in an email. “Vancouver is largely governed by the Vancouver Charter, which was not the subject of this litigation.”

Rutland added that the requirement to seek provincial government approval for such a bylaw is specific to sections of Victoria’s Community Charter, which do not govern Vancouver.

The comments from Vancouver come in the wake of the decision Thursday by a three-judge panel of the B.C. Court of Appeal to quash the City of Victoria’s plastic bag bylaw.

The court found that the B.C. environment ministry had jurisdiction and that the City of Victoria should have sought approval from the provincial government before it passed its bylaw.

Victoria argued that the purpose of the bylaw was to regulate city businesses and therefore there was no need to get the green light from the B.C. government. But in her ruling, B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Mary Newbury noted that the impetus for the bylaw came from an organization dedicated to protection of the global marine environment.

“The bylaw was then supported and publicized as a measure to curtail wasteful practices that have local consequences (on drains and waterways), but also as a broader measure that is necessary for the future health of oceans and beaches around the world,” said Newbury.

Businesses are obviously impacted by the bylaw as the source of checkout bags for customers to carry purchased items, but it would be “inaccurate” to say the main effects are those felt by businesses, said the judge.

“The City did not set out to prohibit some types of checkout bags and encourage other types in order to interfere with or somehow improve business transactions,” said Newbury. “Rather, it set out to slow down and ultimately end the harm caused by plastics in waterways both local and global.”

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